美媒：一个“律师之国”与“工程之国”的交锋！暂停稀土磁体出口，不过是中国的一次“小试牛刀”，如果愿意完全可以扼杀美国经济的关键领域

A Nation of Lawyers Confronts China’s Engineering State

一个“律师之国”与中国“工程之国”的交锋

After Donald Trump announced ruinously high tariffs on China in the spring, a simple reminder of that country’s growing technological power forced him to back down. Shortly after Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement, Beiing abruptly suspended exports of rare-earth magnets.

今年春天，唐纳德·特朗普宣布对中国加征极高关税后，一个关于中国日益增长的科技实力的事实，迫使他不得不退让。4月2日特朗普宣布加征关税后不久，中国突然暂停了稀土磁体的出口。

Automakers around the world panicked. These magnets—manufactured in Chinese factories from crucial metals extracted mostly from Chinese mines—have become essential for building cars. Ford Motor paused production at a plant in Chicago. Automotive-lobbying organizations in the United States and Europe warned that car companies were weeks away from halting production. A few reportedly were considering moving some production to China in order to maintain access to supplies. On May 12, the White House agreed to lower tariff rates for China before it had announced trade deals with Europe, Canada, Japan, or other allied countries.

全球汽车制造商陷入恐慌。这些磁体由中国工厂生产，原料是主要从中国矿山开采的关键金属，如今已成为汽车制造的核心部件。福特汽车暂停了芝加哥一家工厂的生产。欧美汽车游说组织警告称，汽车企业几周内就可能停产。据报道，部分企业甚至考虑将部分产能转移到中国，以确保供应链畅通。5月12日，白宫同意降低对中国的关税税率，而此时它尚未与欧洲、加拿大、日本或其他盟友达成贸易协议。

China produces 90 percent of the global supply of rare-earth magnets, which are not the only products that Beiing can deny the rest of the world. Decades of industrial policy and fierce entrepreneurialism have created the world’s mightiest manufacturing machine. Chinese firms are also dominant producers of many pharmaceutical ingredients (especially for antibiotics and ibuprofen), battery materials, and entire categories of electronics components—not to mention smartphones, household appliances, toys, and other finished goods that American consumers want.

In cutting off rare-earth magnets, officials in Beiing flexed but one finger. If they wanted, they could have strangled vital sectors of the American economy.

中国生产的稀土磁体占全球供应量的90%，但这并非北京可以在全球限制供应的唯一产品。数十年的产业政策与旺盛的创业活力，共同造就了全球最强大的制造机器。中国企业在许多医药原料（尤其是抗生素和布洛芬）、电池材料、各类电子元件的生产中也占据主导地位——更不用说智能手机、家电、玩具等美国消费者青睐的制成品了。

暂停稀土磁体出口，不过是中国官方的一次“小试牛刀”。如果他们愿意，完全可以扼杀美国经济的关键领域。

以下是各国网友的评论：

Tom
The two countries can certainly learn from each other. But, on the balance, America seems to be the one with more urgent need for reform. Lawyers can argue days on end, resulting more arguments while engineers have made things people can use for betterment of their daily life.

两国当然能互相学习。但总的来说，美国好像更急需改革。律师能吵上好几天，结果越吵越凶；而工程师造出了人们需要的东西，改善我们老百姓的日常生活。

Dan
When you have a country run by Lawyers, they tend to spin reality to fit their own narrative. Engineers just deal with reality.

要是一个国家由律师掌权，他们总爱歪曲现实来圆自己的说法。工程师却只踏踏实实处理实际问题。

whyq5
Idea and innovation are the mother of all progress. Engineering and manufacturing drive the commercialization of innovation and creativity. The service of lawyers ensures that these projects are implemented in a way that minimizes conflicts of interest among stakeholders and consumers, while the lawyers obtain a nice profit from such idea that they have nothing to do with.

想法和创新是一切进步的根源。工程和制造业推动创新创意落地变成商品。律师的作用是确保项目实施时，尽量减少利益相关者和消费者之间的利益冲突，可他们却从这些跟自己没关系的想法里赚大钱。

Paul
in a nutshell, the system over there serves the nation and its people (no matter how we ridicule them), here, it serves the big business and the wealthy

简单说，那边的制度是为国家和老百姓服务的（不管我们怎么嘲笑他们），而我们这边的制度是为大企业和有钱人服务的。

HarryC
did you just wake up Rip van Winkle? The system in China serves the oligarchy.

你是刚睡醒吗？中国的制度是为寡头服务的啊。

OutofAme
Yeah, Harry, that's why they've leapfrogged from what they were when Nixon visited to what they are now.

可不是嘛，所以他们才能从尼克松访华时的样子，一路跨越式发展成现在这样。

lustre
Chinese engineers can build a scaffold quickly so that a convicted murder can be executed swiftly while in USA, a convicted murderer can stay on the death row for thirty years while his court-appointed lawyers can make a bundle by appealing his sentence from court to court .
The lawyers' fees, the judges' salaries as well as the salaries of other court staff, clerks, security guards are all included in the computation of USA's annual GDP which is bloated with such non-productive service income.

中国工程师能快速搭好绞刑架，让死刑犯赶紧伏法；可在美国，死刑犯能在死囚牢里待三十年，法院指派的律师却能一次次上诉赚大钱。律师费、法官工资，还有其他法庭工作人员、书记员、保安的工资，都算进了美国的年度GDP。这种不创造实际价值的服务收入，把GDP撑得虚高。

G2573
And those are reasons it's often stated a life sentence cost society "us" less than a death sentence.

所以人们常说，判终身监禁给“我们”社会带来的成本，比判死刑还低。

Yah
So, that's the solution: Faster scaffold building, and frequent and faster use?

所以解决办法就是：绞刑架搭快点，用得更勤、更快？

Max
"The United States has lost the ability to get stuff done as it focuses on procedures rather than results.", well said.

“美国已经失去了做成事的能力，它光盯着流程，不看结果。”说得太对了。

Dave
Robust debate? America is a "nation of lawyers" because lawyers are good at the sweet talking. They can paint you the best pictures verbally so that voters would vote for them. Debates are far from robust. To take the control of the country, the opposition party will reject and demonize everything proposed by the ruling party. Confrontation between parties is on going and exhausts the energy of the country to do the real good things for the people.

激烈辩论？美国是“律师之国”，因为律师擅长花言巧语。他们能把话说得天花乱坠，让选民给他们投票。所谓的辩论根本算不上激烈。反对党为了夺权，会把执政党提出的所有方案都否决掉、抹黑掉。党派之间天天对着干，把国家为老百姓办实事的精力都耗尽了。

John
The top 9 Chinese leaders all have engineering back ground. What are the background of US top leaders? All lawyers and financiers.

中国最高的9位领导人都有工程背景。美国高层领导人是什么背景？全是律师和金融家。

David
China is run (mostly) by highly-educated technocrats that have the unrelenting mission to make their country great. The US however, is run (mostly) by lawyers and corporations that have the unrelenting mission to line their pockets.

中国主要由高学历的技术专家管理，他们一心要让国家的实力变强。而美国主要由律师和企业掌控，他们一心就想塞满自己的腰包。

Cluster
China may design and build things to impress the world, but are all those impressive hi-speed rail lines with super-sleek rail stations, tall bridges, big dams, skyscrapers, and impressive airports really needed, and will they be maintained going forward. They may have the engineering talent, but are they able to look forward and realistically plan for the future, and since its a co unist-based 'command-and-control' society, do the individuals have the critical thinking skills to innovate.

中国或许靠设计建造东西给世界留下印象，但那些气派的高铁、超时髦的车站、高桥、大坝、摩天大楼和豪华机场，真的都有必要吗？以后能维护好吗？他们或许有工程天赋，但能前瞻性地、实际地规划未来吗？而且在这个共产主义社会里，老百姓的批判性思维能力，有创新能力吗？

Jay
Attorneys are really going to come in handy in wars.

打起仗来，律师可真没什么用。

Ucles
Lawyers=the Scourge of the world.

律师，就是世界的祸害。

Mikes
China's technological power isn't growing it's declining, and if its technology theft from the US is curbed it will decline much faster.

中国的科技实力没在增长，反而在下降。要是它从美国偷技术的行为被制止，下降会更快。

Danpt
rare earths ban... no more Military industrial complex for USA

稀土禁令，美国的军工复合体就完了。

Mikes
The US was once the main and only source of rare earths. It can happen again.

美国曾经是稀土的主要甚至唯一来源。我们可以回到过去的

Jee
as I said before Laugh Out Loud... China should stop ALL exports of rare metals of every kind not just "magents" - see how fast us caves ha ha ha

就像我之前说的，太好笑了。中国应该停止所有稀土金属出口，不光是“磁体”——看看美国多久会服软，哈哈哈。

ClusterFund
If the USA blocked petroleum imports to China (almost all of it comes by ocean tanker), the Chinese economy would grind to a halt in 1-2 months.

要是美国封锁对中国的石油进口（几乎都靠油轮运），中国经济一两个月内就会停摆。

Jee
If you didn't notice... RUSSIA DOES have plenty petro.... what 1k mile away compared to 6-7k miles away from US?.... cheaper...

你没注意到吗，俄罗斯有大量石油，距离才1000英里，而美国远在6000 - 7000英里之外，俄罗斯石油的价格还更便宜

DanP
China stops American wars, without fighting.

中国不用打仗就能阻止美国的战争。

Jee
as WW 1 and 2 showed us.... US can never stopped... but made fool out of - yes that's possible. VERY!

就像一战和二战显示的，美国永远停不下来，但让它出丑——完全有可能。非常有可能！

HarryC
The author of this article asks, “How did America lose so much productive capacity to China?”. and the answer is IP theft by China with no accountability.

这篇文章的作者问：“美国怎么会把这么多生产能力输给中国？”答案就是中国偷知识产权，还不用负责。

DanPT
The West has lawyers as political leaders, China has engineers.

西方由律师当政治领袖，中国由工程师掌权。